The Choice: Building Bridges

I am accompanying the Syrian community now since four months on their several rallies in support with their fellows still threatened from Bashar al-Assad's ruthless regime. The demonstrations they organize aren't compatible to the classical protest movement we know here in our Western civilization. They remind more on happenings, with chants, lyrics, live performance but also with guest speeches, common prayers and an enormous get-together atmosphere.

Especially we Germans associate demonstrations as something serious. Therefore it may be unusual at first sight to see a lot of children participating. Two reasons are to be added to explain why minors also join the rallies: First and most important is the fact that the family values amongst the Syrians are held up high. The kids are not excluded from their parents' engagement.

The second point is that it has many to do with the childrens' future. Nearly all of them are having familiar ties inside Syria. Their relatives live under horrible circumstances even not knowing if they might be arrested in their houses or shot on the street. Those ties create a special form of solidarity with their family members even if they have never visited them before. To grant the younger generation a future where they can decide by themselves if they want to return in the land of their roots or not the involvement of the kids in the whole process is necessary. They should be given the possibility of a choice.

As a child my father included me in his actions against the planned nuclear waste storage place in Gorleben. The yellow-red 'Nuclear Energy? No Thanks!' logo still reminds me on the days of my childhood when I experienced that I haven't to agree with all the government told me. I learned having a choice is an important aspect of life. On this way I like to say: Thanks, Dad! Message received!

The warm atmosphere the Syrians always spread at the anti-regime protests refers to their unity. It doesn't matter what religious or geographic background they have; Kurds from the north are holding the big banners together with Damascenes, Sunnis are chanting arm in arm with Alawis and Seculars, Homsis are joking with Turkmens .. Assad's often cited argument from a deep split in the Syrian society which will lead to a civil war after his retreat simply doesn't function. The images from the Syrian expats I've seen are a mirror of the Syrian society: unity is possible even if the regime tries to convince the whole world from the opposite.

The Syrian freedom tour led us this summer also to Hamburg, Berlin and Strasbourg. Everywhere I met amazing people, humble, open-minded and immense grateful about the fact that someone is showing interest for the Syrian culture. Our awareness and our moral support is both helpful and important for them to regain freedom and dignity and to end the rulership of the Assad dynasty which has cost up to now too many innocents' lives.

'Yes we can!' I'm shouting out to my German and European fellows. Yes, we can say hello the next time we meet one Syrian. Yes, we can find out more about the Syrian culture. Yes, we can explore the Syrian music scene (the Syrians are very musical people, believe me!). Yes, we can discover the Syrian cuisine with all its' tasty dishes. With our awareness we begin to build bridges. We have the choice. It's up to us.